Reintroduction to Cartridge Console Gaming

Quickly, as his hands trembled with excitement, the console was hooked up to the TV. One could hardly pick a more appropriate title for the fabled Famicom's first run besides the original Super Mario Brothers (スーパーマリオブラザーズ). The cartridge inserted firmly in place, and with held breath, the power turned on...

     Garbled graphics...
          "No problem"... just make sure the cartridge is seated properly, see that fixed the picture...

     Now the screen's frozen... "That's alright, I've seen this before..."
          ...Just reset it and it should be good to go...

     Grey Screen... no matter what's tried, different cartridges, the old 'blow technique'...
          "Well, shit..."

A few weeks ago, I got a crazy idea for a summer project to tackle. The goal being to get back into microcontroller programming, and also improve my fabrication capabilities. To this end, I've started to track down some components to give myself a baseline on which to base the target build.

Last Friday, I received a package containing a Sharp Twin Famicom [AN-505-RD] (full review later) that I purchased off of ebay. The disk drive needs a belt replacement, but the cartridge port works just fine. In order to run the machine without risking any damage, I ordered a VCT VT-1000J - Japanese Step Up/Down Voltage Transformer from Amazon.

Another package arrived shortly later from Sean over at Famicomblog via Famicom World. Contained within was a few famicom games to play (pictures and full reviews to come later):

• スーパーマリオブラザーズ (Super Mario Brothers)
• スーパーマリオブラザーズ3 (Super Mario Brothers 3)
• ドクターマリオ (Dr. Mario)
• ドラゴンクエスト I, II, III, IV (Dragon Quest 1, 2, 3 and 4)
• 電撃ビッグバン (Dengeki Big Bang a.k.a. Clash at Demonhead)
• ガーディック外伝 (Guardic Gaiden (Side-Story), a.k.a The Guardian Legend)

Also contained was Zelda (ゼルダの伝説 神々のトライフォース) for the Super Famicom (which should be showing up later this week), as well as a bonus item which I will get into in another post.

As I mentioned in the earlier little short story, I had some initial difficulties trying to get it all running. The problem was quickly resolved after a few troubleshooting methods provided by the helpful folks over on #nesdev channel.

So what was the problem? Basically, the games just needed to be cleaned. Oh cartridge systems, how I missed you. They games are all working now, so look forward to more content to come. This should include full game reviews, tips & tricks for servicing older systems/games, and more details about my summer project.